April 22, 2009 4:27 PM

"Craigslist Killer" Puts Perkins Coie-Brokered Settlement Back in Spotlight

Posted by Zach Lowe

As we read about the so-called Craigslist killer in recent days, we thought back to November, when we wrote about Craigslist bowing to pressure from 40 state attorneys general who demanded the site somehow scale back its "erotic services" section. The AGs, led by Connecticut's Richard Blumenthal, criticized the section for promoting prostitution.

Perkins Coie partner Ed Wes, outside counsel to Craigslist since 2003, helped the site craft an agreement with Blumenthal and the other AGs that, for a time, quieted the criticism over the erotic services section. Craigslist agreed to require that all advertisers leave a telephone number for verification and pay a $5 or $10 fee via credit card. The goal was to leave a trail for investigators, Wes said then.

"We hope this is something other Internet companies can use as a model," Wes told us in November. "This has been very gratifying and interesting work."

Blumenthal and Massachusetts AG Martha Coakley are saying that agreement may not have gone far enough now that more details have emerged about alleged "Craigslist killer" Philip Markoff, according to the Boston Globe and the Hartford Courant. Blumenthal has asked Craigslist to adopt stricter oversight measures, including higher credit card fees and better identify verification techniques. "Craigslist has the means--and moral obligation--to stop the pimping and prostitution in plain sight," Blumenthal said today.

Wes tells us today that he has continued to represent Craigslist in discussions with law enforcement officials across the U.S. since November, when the site agreed to implement the credit card system. He couldn't go into detail on those talks, but says Markoff's "Craigslist killer" moniker is unfair to the site. "It's an unfair tag," Wes says. "He's a psychopath."

Wes pointed us to this entry on Craigslist's blog, which shows that the number of postings to the erotic services section has dropped by 90 percent in some major cities since the site began requiring credit card fees.

"It's only been six months," Wes says. "That success is phenomenal."

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